Microsoft confirms European numbers

In a disappointing affirmation of recent rumours, Chris Lewis - Head of Xbox Europe has confirmed that the whole of Europe will receive a measly 300,000 Xbox 360 consoles approximately for launch.

How this figure will be distributed amongst the various countries is unclear at this moment in time, but what is certain is that the console will be sold out on launch day. With tens of thousands of pre-orders, there will be lots of unhappy faces come Dec 25th despite Robbie Bach's assertion that Microsoft will be having weekly stock replenishments.

Whether this is part of the marketing plan or not, it seems that Microsoft have grossly under-rated both the European and Japanese markets. With Xbox's key market of North America already suffering almost complete shortages less than a week after release and two more regions for the console to launch in, the supply channel will be further stretched.